Organization helps homeless women get bras

posted by Jay -

Mar 29, 2017

When Dana Marlowelost 35 pounds, she needed to get new bras in her new size. And when she asked the sales clerk what she could do with the old ones, the woman reminded her that homeless women need bras. So Marlowe started collecting hers and asking friends to donate with her.

In addition to bras, Thrive DC, a Washington D.C. service provider for homeless and low-income people, needed period products too. And by the time Marlowe brought in the haul she and her buddies gathered, it was over 1,000 bras and 7,000 feminine care products. That inspired her to start the nonprofitSupport the Girls, which helps women in need get bras and period supplies.

It’s been two years since the Maryland mom started Support the Girls and they now have a network of 46 affiliates that give to over 190 charities. Marlowe says they’ve donated more than 95,000 bras and 525,000 feminine care products in the U.S. and around the world.

"The ability to have a bra that fits you, that provides you with support so that your clothes lay right, so that you can stand up a little straighter and more dignified, so that maybe you can feel better about yourselves,” Marlowe says. “That’s a powerful feeling from a small piece of cloth.”